The death of Israeli PM Netanyahu's father

The father of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Professor Ben-Zion Netanyahu, passed away early this morning (Monday), 30.4.12.

Ben-Zion Netanyahu, 102, died at home. Last night, his son, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu managed to visit him one last time.

Our sincere condolences are offered to the Netanyahu family.

 

 

Program Note: May 3 - Understanding the Current Middle East with Prof. Walid Phares

 

 

Brigitte Gabrielle speaks tonight re: Global Islamic terrorism

Brigitte Gabrielle, expert on global Islamic terrorism, speaks tonight, Tuesday, April 24  7:00PM at Point of Grace Church,
305 NE Dartmoor Dr., Waukee, IA 50263
515-987-9595 

April 29: Live Iowa Public Radio broadcast at the Caspe Terrace. Concert commemorates Passover season and the Holocaust

2 PM,  Sunday, April 29:  Iowa Public Radio to present a live broadcast of concert at the Caspe Terrace.

 

UNI FACULTY ARTISTS, DAVENPORT CANTOR TO PERFORM IN PASSOVER AND HOLOCAUST CONCERT

 

Cedar Falls, Iowa - April 4, 2012 – University of Northern Iowa’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education and the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines present Music to Commemorate the Passover Season and the Holocaust on Sunday, April 29, 2012, at 2 p.m. at the Caspe Terrace in Waukee, IA.

 

This special collaboration features Cantor Gail Karp, Temple Emanuel of Davenport, and UNI School of Music faculty members Hunter Capoccioni, double bass, and Dr. Dmitri Vorobiev, piano.

 

The program includes works by Bloch, Berlinski, Ravel, Osborne and Bruch, as well as a variety of Hebrew and Yiddish songs performed by Cantor Karp.   Des Moines-area rabbis Leib Bolel (Beth El Jacob Synagogue), David Kaufman (Temple B'nai Jeshurun) and Yossi Jacobson (Lubavitch of Iowa) will speak about the significance of Passover and Holocaust commemoration, and Cantor Karp will speak about the role of music in Jewish life and liturgy.

 

Iowa Public Radio Classical’s Performance Iowa series will present a live statewide broadcast of Music to Commemorate the Passover Season and the Holocaust on all Iowa Public Radio Classical station frequencies and online at www.iowapublicradio.org.

 

The Caspe Terrace is located at 33158 Ute Avenue, Waukee, IA 50263-7538. The 25,000 square-foot facility is approximately 15 minutes from Des Moines, and houses the Bookey Lodge, the Staroselsky Clubhouse, the Martin Bucksbaum Arts Wing, the Jewish Historical Society and the Caspe Heritage Gallery.

 

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For more information, please contact:

 

Dr. Stephen J Gaies

Director, University of Northern Iowa Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education

Baker Hall 30

Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0518

(319) 273-3870

stephen.gaies@uni.edu

 

For information about tickets ($8 in advance, $10 at the door), please contact:

Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines
33158 Ute Avenue
Waukee, IA 50263-7538
(515) 987-0899 Ext. 230
tammy@dmjfed.org

 

From Darfur to Nuba: A Transfer of Genocide

April 6, 2012  By Rabbi David Kaufman in The Times of Israel.     See also: http://HelpNuba.net

 

This week, Ahmed Harun, Governor of South Kordofan was shown in a video saying that his soldiers should “take no prisoners” in the fighting in the southern part of Sudan.   http://helpnuba.net/2012/04/05/take-no-prisoners/

As Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), noted:

‘Take no prisoners’ means a crime against humanity or a war crime, because if the prisoner was a combatant it is a war crime and if the pisoner was a civilian it’s a crime against humanity.

For those who may not know, Ahmed Harun is already wanted for crimes against humanity by the ICC because of his actions as Governor of Darfur where he conducted ethnic cleansing and perpetrated what is widely recognized as genocide against the Darfurian people.

Now ethnic cleansing and genocide are taking place in the Nuba Mountains under Harun’s direction in South Kordofan while the same is threatened in the provinces of Blue Nile, and Abyei. The Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement and Army have for many years been working with the South Sudanese against the government in Khartoum. The people of Nuba, like their Christian friends to the south, would like independence and for that to happen, South Sudan must help.

The ongoing peace negotiations between the governments of Sudan and South Sudan have the potential to force South Sudan to abandon their long time friends in the north and to dramatically worsen the situation in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. President Obama is said to have asked South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir, to do just that, to distance South Sudan from those fighting against Ahmed Harun’s forces in South Kordofan.

One may assume that the President of the United States is trying to broker a peace that he believes will end the fighting in South Kordofan and ensure the peace between Sudan and South Sudan. He may well believe that this peace would end the fighting in South Kordofan. Yet what are the likely consequences of such a peace for South Kordofan???

Considering the fact that Governor Harun and Sudan’s President Bashir are both wanted by the International Criminal Court for the crime of genocide in Darfur and there is evidence that they are carrying out a very similar plan in the Nuba Mountains, one must question whether or not they are negotiating peace because they would simply like to remove an impediment from their ability to ethnically cleanse the Nuba people and to extend their reign of terror into other provinces as well. If peace comes, South Sudan, the best ally of the Nuba by far, will be unable to help them. We could see an even further deterioration in South Kordofan where women and children are being raped and killed and villages bombed even today. This is not a military conflict. Sudanese troops are massacring civilians there.

If South Sudan cannot help, someone else must. A no fly zone must be implemented and an international force must be ready to step in to prevent genocide otherwise the Nuba people will be left alone to face Harun and his murderous reign.This is not a matter of fighting for independence, it is a struggle for life. We cannot stand idly by.

Source: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/from-darfur-to-nuba-a-transfer-of-genocide/

 

 

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Turkey’s top Muslim cleric slams Saudi mufti over his call to destroy churches

 

 

 

 

Mehmet Görmez

5 April 2012 / ABDULLAH BOZKURT , ANKARA

Turkey's top imam blasted the Saudi grand mufti's call to "destroy all the churches" in the Gulf region, saying that the announcement is in total contradiction to the peaceful teachings of the Muslim religion.

Speaking to Today's Zaman, Mehmet Görmez, head of the Religious Affairs Directorate, said he cannot accept the Islamic religious order --fatwa -- issued by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Shaikh, adding that the mufti's remarks run contrary to the centuries-old Islamic teachings of tolerance and the sanctity of institutions belonging to other religions.

He emphasized that Islam has always respected religious freedom. "The opinion of the grand mufti also obviously contradicts the agreements that the Prophet of Islam signed with the non-Muslim communities both in Medina and in the region. It also plainly overlooks the right of immunity given by Islam to the holy shrines and temples of other religions on the basis of the rule of law throughout its history," Görmez explained.

Sheikh Abdulaziz reportedly made the controversial statement during a meeting with a delegation from the Kuwait-based Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage in response to a query about Shariah law concerning the construction of churches in Muslim countries. He issued the fatwa in March, saying that further church building should be banned and existing Christian houses of worship should be destroyed.

Görmez slammed Abdulaziz, stating, "We strongly believe that this declaration has left dark shadows upon the concept of rights and freedoms in Islam that have always been observed on the basis of its sources, and it will not be recorded as an opinion of Islam." He also added, "We, therefore, entirely reject the aforementioned opinion and hope that it will be amended as soon as possible."

Turkey's top Muslim cleric challenged the Saudi grand mufti's assertions on the established principles in Islam. "We believe that the mentioned opinion is evidently against the aims of Islam, especially in a region that witnessed the descent of the Holy Quran and the first application of the Sunnah of the Prophet. It is against the Muslim tradition's established practice of respecting non-Muslims' rights as well," he noted.

 Source:  http://www.sundayszaman.com/sunday/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=276525

 

 

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Rabbi Danny Allen: Four questions for four Zionists

Four questions for four Zionists

• April 4, 2012,   http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/four-zionists-and-their-four-questions/

Rabbi Daniel Allen is the Executive Director of ARZA, The Reform Israel Fund, the Israel voice of the Reform Movement in America

Israel and Zionism should be at the core of our Passover observance. The Exodus from Egypt had a goal not just of freedom for the Jewish People but a return to our own land, our own sovereignty, and our own Jewish ways of living. We are required to make the story meaningful for every generation; hence we should be asking four important questions about Israel and considering four kinds of Zionists.

Four Zionist questions for the Seder

All countries have governments, borders, neighbors, culture, language(s), economies, their own internal politics, and legitimacy within the family of nations. Why is Israel the only country whose legitimacy as a sovereign state is challenged in so many ways by so many people?

On all other nights we may think of places all around the world we would like to visit. Why on this night do we say only “Next Year in Jerusalem?”

On all other nights we may consider the advantages or challenges of the country of our citizenship. Why on this night do we consider what makes Israel different from all other countries?

Most countries and societies need and welcome the voluntary sector in order to achieve their declared dreams. Israel’s Declarations of Independence challenges us all to “ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions,” as well as to make peace with her neighbors. Why, on this night, are we not working more diligently to assist Israel in achieving its stated goals of equality for all her citizens, to build a more inclusive democratic society and peace with all her neighbors?

Questions are answered by individuals with a point of view and a particular perspective. Questions about Israel are often answered by four kinds of Zionists.

A traditional Passover Seder table (photo credit: Flash90)

Four Zionists for the Seder

The activitist Zionist – what does he/she say in response to these questions?

He/she first analyzes the questions, thinks through all the historical perspectives, centers the answer based where one fits within Zionist ideology, and then decides on strategy and tactics including which organization is best equipped to handle the response. While all of this activity is important and needs to be supported, sometimes what is needed is a simple answer, one that is the essence of one’s being.

On April 1, 1933, the Jewish Review of Berlin, a Zionist newspaper, editorialized about what should be the response to the new Nazi law requiring Jews to wear a yellow star which was meant to mark Jews as illegitimate:

The Jewish (Zionist) answer must be that briefest of sentences Moses spoke to the Egyptian (when his legitimacy was challenged): Ivri Anochi. I am a Jew.

Wherever we fall on the broad Zionist spectrum, we are all Jews in the big tent of supporting Israel.

The disillusioned Zionist – what does she/he say?

Why is Israel really important anymore? She has not lived up to my dreams, to what I learned in summer camp, to the very ideals upon which the state was founded. I have worked for years and still Israel has so many problems, peace has not yet been achieved and I am tired of the struggle.

To this person you should answer from Pirkei Avot: “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it (2:21).” In a brief 64 years Israel has brought home millions of Jews, created a vibrant country, defended itself from military and terrorist threats, and contributed positively to the world. Rededicate yourself to the Israel with the spirit of the summer movement for social change; “The people demand a just society”.

The nominal Zionist, the “Jew in the pew” — what does he/she say?

What’s all the fuss about? I live a comfortable Jewish life here in America and Israel does not really affect my life.

Then you should remind this person that American attitudes toward Jews changed for the better after the 1967 Six-Day War when the world saw Jews who had reclaimed Jewish destiny in Jewish hands; that the technology for the cellphone they use was created in Israel; that Israel has painfully made peace with its two largest neighbors and is committed to a two-state solution: a Jewish State of Israel and a Palestinian state for the Palestinians living side by side in peace, which, when it happens, will further peace for everyone in the world; and that it is Israel that stands at the cutting edge of defending the West against terrorism and fanaticism.

The not-yet Zionist, the one who does not know about Israel, the success of the national liberation project of the Jewish people, the good that Israel has brought to the world, and the amazing story of a people repatriated, a land reclaimed and a language renewed: For this person you shall begin with the words of God to Abraham:

Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land (Israel) that I will show you and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you… and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you.

In answer to all the questions and in response to all the kinds of Zionists we are reminded of what Chaim Weitzmann, the first president of Israel, once said:

A nation does not receive a state on a silver platter.

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